October 2011 MMA News Archive - Page 6

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Chael Sonnen made a limited-time offer to Anderson Silva. The loser-leaves-town fight he presented the middleweight champ is apparently off the table.
"That offer was good when I made it, but it's like any offer: They've got to expire," Sonnen said today during an appearance on "The Jim Rome Show."
But as with many proclamations given by Sonnen, it's a good bet that just the opposite is true, or the entire offer was never true.

Former UFC middleweight champion, Rich Franklin, has always been portrayed as the UFC's ultimate company man. Whether it's moving between weight classes to make way for younger, more talented fighters, fighting at catch-weights in bouts with no divisional relevance, or taking part in countless media opportunities, press tours, and promotional activities, "Ace" has always gone above and beyond to do whatever Dana White, Lorenzo Fertitta, or Joe Silva ask of him. This is partly because Franklin is one of the UFC's most well-spoken and highly educated fighters, and also because he has a large fan-base and appeal as the all-American good-guy fighter who's rarely in a boring fight.

Tito Ortiz may be 1-5-1 in his last seven bouts, but his shocking win over Ryan Bader at UFC 132 was enough to keep Tito in the UFC and just relevant enough. Tito is now set to face Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 140 and, somewhat shockingly, is only a slight underdog (+130 to +145). It opened even closer with Ortiz only a +110 underdog.
Maybe this was based on Tito's one win in five years, or maybe it's his new status as "The People's Champion." Via ESPN:
Jon Robinson: I was at your fight against Ryan Bader and the look on your face after you won was one of such pure joy, I can't remember seeing you that happy before. What did that moment mean to you?
Tito Ortiz: It meant that everything had paid off. My whole legacy, my whole career depended on that fight. I trained really hard and had some great guys around me training with me. It was almost like winning my world title. A lot of people didn't believe in me. A lot of people couldn't believe that I was still here. I had neck surgery, lower back surgery and a lot of athletes don't compete after that. I showed that I'm able to compete against the best guys in the world, and I think that will help show people that if they believe in themselves, if they believe in their dream, they can accomplish anything. That's why I changed my name to The People's Champ. I want everyone to know that I'm here for the fans. I want them to know that they can bounce back from anything.

It appears that the fight card for UFC 139 in San Jose, California is now full with the addition of a lightweight match-up between Danny Castillo and Shamar Bailey. The UFC announced the bout via Twitter today:
Anyone wondering who @ShamarBailey and Danny Castillo @lastcall155 have agreed to fight next? Mmm how bout each other, UFC 139 #beastmode

Jorge Santiago has been released by the UFC. The Middleweight fighter is coming off a loss to Demian Maia at UFC 136. Santiago made his return to the UFC earlier this year, losing to Brian Stann at UFC 130 before falling to Maia. This was Santiago's second run in the UFC as he was 1-2 in the company back in 2006.
In the years between his two UFC runs, Santiago established himself as one of the top Middleweights in the world outside of the UFC, putting together a solid 11-1 record. His major success came in Japan, where he claimed the Sengoku Middleweight championship and turned some heads with a pair of classic fights against Kazuo Misaki. His work in Japan earned him a lot of respect, and many fans were excited about his return to the UFC.

ProElite is back on cable television.
The organization announced late Monday night that it had signed a multi-fight broadcast deal with HDNet to air its events live on the cable network. As a result, ProElite: Big Guns will air live on HDNet on Nov. 5 from the iWireless Center in Moline, IL.
"Our multi-fight agreement with HDNet elevates the ProElite brand to a national MMA audience with a preeminent broadcast partner," said Paul Feller, President and CEO of Stratus Media Group, the parent company of ProElite, and Chairman of the organization. "This strategic partnership offers new opportunities for corporate sponsors and advertisers looking to reach this passionate and rapidly growing audience of ProElite fans."

JS: Haha, sounds sensible. Now you’ve gone on record as stating that Anderson is already attempting to shirk Chael. If the fight eventually materialises, how would Chael fare in the rematch?
ML: I think the rematch would look just like the first one, except I’ve got a game plan for Chael to finish him before the end of the third round. So, yeah it’ll look similar to their first encounter, but with some additional techniques and strategy, it won’t make it to the championship rounds.
JS: WOW, ok. Just trying to probe a little further, would these additional techniques involve wrestling submission holds or BJJ?
ML: (Sounds jokingly astounded) BJJ submissions? We are not Brazilians. We are Americans. You understand that right? Why would we be working BJJ? We do not employ BJJ. We employ American wrestling submissions.

“I don’t have much longer in this career and at this point I want to take big fights, big names, and sell the hell out of the fight and go in there and perform and win,” Koscheck told MMAWeekly.com recently.
Speaking very honestly about his standing in the welterweight division, Koscheck knows that as long as Georges St-Pierre is champion, he’s not likely to get a third shot at the belt, having lost to the Canadian twice already.
“I don’t see myself fighting for the title any time soon unless Georges loses,” Koscheck stated. “Would you guys want to see a third GSP/Koscheck fight right away? I mean, I’m down for it don’t get me wrong, but that’s a tough sell for the UFC.”

German heavyweight Andreas Kraniotakes has agreed to replace three-time UFC heavyweight title contender Pedro Rizzo as the opponent for former UFC champion Tim Sylvia in the headliner of ProElite’s Nov. 5 event in Moline, Illinois, Sherdog.com has learned from a source close to the situation.
Rizzo announced Monday via Twitter that he had sustained a partially torn tendon in his left arm while training in Holland and would be unable to face Sylvia.
Kraniotakes (Pictured), who originally applied for the promotion’s eight-man heavyweight tournament, was in San Diego preparing for his Nov. 26 main event fight at a Superior Fighting Championship/M-1 Global joint show in Duren, Germany, when he got the call from ProElite matchmaker Rich Chou.

Injuries suffered by Englishmen John Hathaway and Oli Thompson have altered the card of UFC 138, the promotion’s Nov. 5 event at LG Arena in Birmingham, England.
An undisclosed injury forced Thompson to withdraw from his heavyweight matchup against countryman Philip De Fries, but UFC officials announced Monday that Rob Broughton has verbally agreed to step in and meet De Fries on Nov. 5.
Hathaway was also scratched from the card with an unknown ailment. His opponent, American Matt Brown, will now get to fight on home soil, as “The Immortal” has verbally agreed to fight Seth Baczynski (Pictured) at UFC 139, Nov. 19 at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.

Next month's UFC 138 event apparently has lost a main-card bout.
Welterweight Matt Brown today tweeted that his scheduled opponent, John Hathaway, is injured, and he's currently awaiting word on a replacement.
UFC officials have not formally announced the scratch, and as of Monday evening, the fight remained listed on UFC.com.

"After rewatching the whole fight, i just realized that everytime i fought for M-1 against a Russian fighter, i was the hand picked guy... i mean, i am assuming that after seeing one of the M-1 directors rooting for my opponent everytime he'd hit me, but not having any reaction when i'd hit him nor when dropped him. Thanks M-1, i appreciate your business, you can have your belt back."
- Vinny Magalhaes

The story of Matt Hamill is coming to theaters across the country.
The biopic "The Hammer," a critically acclaimed film about the recently retired UFC fighter's life, is set for a limited nationwide release.
The movie (which previously was called "Hamill") debuts early later this month in 25 U.S. states and approximately 100 cities, project officials recently announced.
Most of the selected theaters will show the film during a two-day run. However, The Uptown Theatre in Utica, N.Y., has set aside five dates, the first of which is Oct. 27. The other theaters debut the film on Oct. 27 or in early November.
"The Hammer" won awards from eight major film festivals.

At a press conference in support of "Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal," Gilbert Melendez notes Frankie Edgar did a good job defending his belt at UFC 136.
But he scrunches his face a bit in a way that says there's something else on his mind.
The truth, found beside the podium after the gathering, is that he's salivating at a chance to beat the UFC champ.
"If you can find that target, it looks like you could put him on the ground," Melendez told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "We need someone to find that target more than once, and I think I could find that target."
At the moment, his thoughts are academic. A UFC title shot is not next. What's next is a defense of his Strikeforce belt, and it could be the toughest fight of his life.

An arm injury has forced Pedro Rizzo out of next month's ProElite 2 headliner with fellow ex-UFC heavyweight Tim Sylvia.
Rizzo today announced via Twitter that he recently suffered a partial tear of his left triceps tendon.
MMAjunkie.com could not immediately reach ProElite officials to determine if a Plan B is in place or if a replacement is being sought.

I'm a lifelong Buffal Bills fan, so writing an article about the New York Jets needing to look for inspiration is only fun for me because they need inspiration.
Still, the Jets are turning to Frankie Edgar to help motivate them to a win for a second time. The first was before week 11 last season, a game which the Jets won 30-27 over the Houston Texans. Now they're bringing Edgar back in ahead of tonight's Monday Night Football game against the Miami Dolphins.
MMA Fighting has a quote from Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez on Frankie's words the first time around:
"Perfect timing. Just talking about never giving up, being counted out, playing until the end, fighting and believing in yourself, believing in your team and the people around you. Those were the only people telling him he could win the fight. Everybody else counted him out. ... Perfect timing for Rex to bring somebody in like that and give us a little extra inspiration. So it was great for Frankie to come in."